Fair organizers upbeat in spite of election
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta
The 2004 Jakarta Fair is likely to be less festive than last year, with fewer exhibitors signing up for the event possibly because of increased uncertainly resulting of the presidential elections.
The month-long fair, which has become an annual tradition to mark the Jakarta anniversary, will be opened by President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Jakarta Fairground in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.
Only about 800 participants have so far registered to join the exhibition, six of them from foreign countries, such as Malaysia, Iran, Germany, Japan and China. The number of participants is lower than last year's 1,186.
"We're still keeping the registrations open... We're targeting a total of 1,000 exhibitors taking part in the fair," public relations officer Adrian Putra said.
Adrian said the organizers were confident that more than 2.2 million visitors would attend the event, higher than last year's 1,760,315 people.
"We hope the presidential election campaign will not stop people coming to the fair. In addition, we're hoping for an increase of visitors during the long school holiday," he said.
The Jakarta Fair was held for the first time in 1968 at the National Monument (Monas) Park in Central Jakarta. Since 1991, the event has been moved to the more spacious Jakarta Fairground.
Jakarta Tourism Agency head Aurora Tambunan said the Jakarta Fair was not the only attraction to commemorate the city's 477th anniversary.
"There will be a laser show at Monas Park on June 22. The lights will create moving pictures on the sides of the monument, depicting historical episodes of Jakarta," she said at City Hall.
The Rp 15 billion (US$1.6 million) laser show was built by PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, an instant noodle producer, in a deal that saw it licensed to put up billboards in several strategic locations in the city.
Aurora said the administration would also organize a fashion show on July 17 on the Adem River in Angke, North Jakarta, using floating barrels to create the catwalk. The event is called "Fashion on the Water".
"The idea (of using the river as the venue) came from Governor Sutiyoso. He wants to introduce a new concept to Jakartans -- to get them to regard rivers as their front yards and therefore deserving of more care and attention," she said.
Jakartans have long helped pollute the city's 13 rivers with domestic waste in the absence of an integrated sewage system in the city.
The fashion show will be marked by a dragon boat race on the river.